How Easy is Learning to Play Ukulele?

Thinking about learning to play ukulele?

Wondering how difficult it is to learn ukulele and whether you need to take ukulele lessons?

As a ukulele teacher offering ukulele lessons to beginners, here’s my take on this.

Learning to play ukulele is simple for these 10 reasons.

Less Strings Than a Guitar
Ukulele is a four-string instrument and in the standard G C E A tuning you can play some easy one-finger chords to start you off learning ukulele including C, C7, Cmaj7, A minor. That’s four one-fingered chords. How good is that!

Easy one and two finger chords
Students in my ukulele lessons for beginners are ‘over the moon’ in their very first ukulele lesson playing a song with 4 chords. And they particularly motivated by two of the chords being ‘super easy’ one-finger chords. Not only that, of the other ukulele chords they play in lesson one is a ‘super easy’ 2-finger chord. And the other ukulele chord is three-finger chord – G. Even this three-fingered ukulele chord is so easy to play with a little bit of practice.

Practice Wherever You Go!
Another wonderful reason why learning ukulele is simple is the size of the instrument. Ukuleles are tiny. Baby sized even. A little soprano ukulele fits into a tote bag and you can take it with you to the beach or to picnics or visiting friends. I practice and play my ukulele when I am a car passenger. And it makes a car trip a fun singalong too for others. This also helps you start developing confidence to play ukulele in front of others.

Light, Easy and Very Cool!
Ukuleles win hands down in the lightweight and easy to carry musical instrument stakes. It’s no big deal when you do go to ukulele lessons with your little ukulele. You won’t have to lug around a big guitar but rather breeze into your ukulele lessons swinging your tiny little lightweight ukulele with a smile on your face. OK kazoos, harmonicas and flutes are small too – but ukes are the lightest ‘coolest’ instruments that you can play and sing at the same time!

Compact and Convenient
And another reason why ukuleles are easy to learn is all about how easy to have your little ukulele right near you bedside or with you while you watch TV. I have a ukulele in my kitchen and another ukulele in my bedroom near my bed and another ukulele in my teaching room where I teach students ukulele lessons for beginners. Ukes are small enough to have hanging around the house or at work, waiting for a spare moment – like waiting for your tea to brew, your kettle to boil, the ad break on TV to finish or for you to wake up in the morning.

Not Scary!
Ukes are non-threatening. Ukes are just fun. As a ukulele performer I take a bunch of my little bright coloured soprano ukuleles to my music shows for early childhood – and the little kids go crazy! (So do the adults for that matter!) They love holding the ukuleles, cuddling them, strumming the strings and giggling at the happy sounds coming out as they play with ukuleles.

Cheap and Cheerful
Another wonderful reason learning ukulele is so easy is because ukuleles are wonderfully affordable. You can pick up a ukulele for well under $50. How good is that! These are not toys – these ukuleles are real instruments. I purchased my little deep purple soprano ukulele for $20 back in 2006 and it’s still got the same strings on it that came with the uke.

Easy Strumming
Another reason why learning ukulele is easy is because it’s a strumming rhythmic instrument – although it can also be played as a melodic lead instrument as well. And rhythmic instruments especially the ukulele is so easy to play even if you only know a few basic chords. For example – the four basic chords I teach my students in my beginners’ ukulele lessons – C, G, Am and F are the chords to thousands of songs.

And these thousands of songs are from all the popular music songs we all love – no matter what age learners are there are plenty of three and four-chord songs they know and love.

Tons of Songs a click away
Another reason why learning ukulele is so simple is that there are some awesome resources online such as Chordie www.chordie.com, which has thousands of songs with the lyrics and the chords for two popular ukulele tunings including the standard GCEA ukulele tuning.

Chordie allows users to transpose the key of the songs into a key the ukulele player prefers. This could either be the best key for singing in their range or else the chords which match the ukulele players current level of skill.

In conclusion there are 10 reasons why learning ukulele is simple.

Simple Strategy for Accelerated Learning
Finding an awesome, switched-on teacher for ukulele lessons is a great strategy for getting your ukulele playing off to a great start straight away and fast tracking your learning. I love hearing my students share how amazed and delighted at the rapid progress they are making in such a short time of learning. That makes me so happy as a ukulele teacher.

Ukulele lessons are not only simple but also lots of fun and before you know it you can be showing off your new musical skills to friends and family playing some great songs.

Learn in your pajamas!
You can accelerate your learning ukulele in the comfort and convenience of your home – even in your pyjamas! If you are looking for a ukulele teacher I offer SKYPE ukulele lessons anywhere around the world – which my students say is a brilliant way to learn!

Beginners Lesson in a Pocket
By popular demand I have created ‘Ukulele Lessons Today- Book 1′ for the self-directed learner. It’s a great little beginners lesson in the super convenient e-book format giving ukulele students everything needed to learn to play four basic chords on ukulele to unlock thousands of songs.

And at around a quarter of the price of a normal face to face or Skype lesson ‘Ukulele Lessons Today - Book 1′ e-book offers unbeatable value for the ukulele learner wanting to make rapid progress on their own. ‘Ukulele Lessons Today – Book 1′ available for purchaseat online retailers including Kindle at Amazon.com, i-book from Tunes and Nook at Barnes and Noble. It’s your ukulele lesson in your pocket!

Zelda Sheldon is an author, educator, performer and award winning commercial broadcast songwriter whose works continue to be performed around the world. Along with her songwriting she is a popular ukulele performer and music educator offering world-class ukulele lessons for beginners of all ages, along with singing, songwriting and creative life coaching. As the founder of the first Australian chapter of Nashville Songwriters Association International in Sydney Zelda is a passionate advocate for community volunteering particularly through her love of music to bring the magic of music and songs into more lives for holistic health.

Because Ukulele Lessons Today is the best place to learn ukulele today